Privacy Policy

Welcome to the Founder Institute, Incorporated (“FII”) website and online services (the “FII Site”). FII values the privacy of our subscribers, customers, members, and others who visit and use the FII Site and its associated services (collectively or individually, “You” or “Users”).

This Privacy Notice describes what information we gather from you, how we use that information and what we do to protect it. This Privacy Notice is incorporated into and is subject to the FII Terms of Use. Your use of the FII Site and any personal information you provide on the FII Site are subject to the terms of this Privacy Notice and FII’s Terms of Use. By accessing, browsing or using the FII Site, you acknowledge that you have received, read, understood and agree to be bound by this Privacy Notice and any updates.

The Information FII Collects

User-provided Information: You may provide to FII what is generally called “personally identifiable” information (such as your name, email address, postal mailing address, home/mobile telephone number, credit card number, billing information and other personal information) when using the FII Site.

“Cookies” Information: When you visit the FII Site, we may send one or more cookies – small text files containing a string of alphanumeric characters – to your computer. FII may use both session cookies and persistent cookies. A session cookie disappears after you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains after you close your browser and may be used by your browser on subsequent visits to the FII Site. By using these cookies, we can “remember” what you have done on the FII Site before and personalize our site for you. Persistent cookies can be removed. Please review your web browser’s “Help” file to learn the proper way to modify your cookie settings. Please note that disabling cookies may prevent you from accessing some of the functionality and site offerings available at the FII Site.

“Automatically Collected” Information: When you visit the FII Site or open one of our HTML emails, we may automatically record certain information from your web browser by using different types of technology, including “clear gifs” or “web beacons.” This “automatically collected” information may include Internet Protocol address (“IP Address”), web browser type, the web pages or sites that you visit just before or just after the FII Site, the pages you view on the FII Site, and the dates and times that you visit the FII Site.

The Way FII Uses Information

FII uses the information you provide or that we collect to operate, maintain, enhance, and provide all of the features and services found on the FII Site. We may use your email address, without further consent, to provide you with updates on the status of any application you may have submitted, to inform you of major updates to FII Site, for customer service and administrative purposes, or to contact you regarding any information or other content that you have posted to the FII Site.

FII uses all of the information that we collect to understand and analyze the usage trends and preferences of our Users, to improve the way the FII Site work and look, and to create new features and functionality.

FII may use certain of your personally identifiable information, such as your name, educational background and professional experience for the purposes of the FII educational program, including but not limited to creating a user profile for you that may be accessed by other participants in the FII educational program.

FII may use “automatically collected” information and “cookies” information to: (a) remember your information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the FII Site; (b) provide customized third-party advertisements, content, and information; (c) monitor the effectiveness of third-party marketing campaigns; (d) monitor aggregate site usage metrics such as total number of visitors and pages viewed; and (e) track your entries and submissions.

FII will not use your email address or other personally identifiable information to send promotional messages without your consent or except.

When FII Discloses Information

FII does not share your personally identifiable information with other organizations for their marketing or promotional uses without your express consent. Please be aware, however, that certain personal or personally identifiable information provided to us in connection with your enrollment in the FII educational program will become available to the other participants of the FII educational program and may be collected and used by such participants, subject to certain confidentiality obligations that FII may impose from time to time.

FII may disclose automatically collected and other aggregate non-personally-identifiable information with interested third parties to, among other things, assist such parties in understanding the usage patterns for certain content, services, advertisements, promotions, and/or functionality on the FII Site.

FII may disclose User information to affiliated companies or other businesses or persons to: provide web site hosting, maintenance, and security services; conduct data analysis and create reports; offer certain functionality; and assist FII in improving the FII Site and creating new services features. We require that these parties process such information in compliance with this Privacy Notice, we authorize only a limited use of such information, and we require these parties to use reasonable confidentiality measures.

FII may also disclose User information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with state and federal laws (such as U.S. Copyright law) or respond to a court order, judicial or other government subpoena, or warrant. In some cases, we may make such disclosures without first providing notice to Users.

FII also reserves the right to disclose User information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to take precautions against liability; protect FII from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses; to investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations; to assist government enforcement agencies; to protect the security or integrity of the FII Site; or to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of FII, our Users, or others.

Your Choices

You may, of course, decline to share your personally-identifiable information with FII, in which case FII will not be able to provide to you some of the features and functionality found on the FII Site. Please note that failure to provide certain personally-identifiable information to FII may result in the termination of your participation in the FII educational program. If you are a Registered User (as defined in the Terms of Use) with a registered account on the FII Site, you may update, correct, or delete your account information and preferences at any time by going to the [insert name of appropriate webpage].

To protect your privacy and security, we take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting you account access or making corrections to your information. You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your unique password and account information at all times.

Third-Party Advertisers, Links to Other Sites

FII may permit other companies, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements within the FII Site. These third-party ad servers or ad networks may use technology to send, directly to your browser, some of the advertisements and links that appear on the FII Site. These advertisers may automatically receive your IP address if this happens. These advertisers may also use other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and to personalize the advertising content.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers or ad networks. The policies contained in FII’s Privacy Notice do not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

Our Commitment to Children’s Privacy

Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important. For that reason, FII does not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information on the FII Site from persons under 13 years of age, and no part of the FII Site is directed to persons under 13. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use or access THE FII Site at any time or in any manner. Any person who provides their personal information to FII through the FII Site represents that they are 13 years of age or older. If FII learns that personally identifiable information of persons less than 13 years of age has been collected on FII without verifiable parental consent, then FII will take the appropriate steps to delete this information.

Our Commitment to Data Security

No data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission of information, FII uses commercially reasonable efforts to preserve the integrity and security of your personal information. However, please note that this is not a guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.

If FII learns of a security systems breach, then we may attempt to notify you electronically so that you can take appropriate protective steps. By using the FII Site or providing personal information to us, you agree that we can communicate with you electronically regarding security and privacy issues relating to your use of the FII Site. FII may post a notice on the FII Site if a security breach occurs. Depending on where you live, you may have a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing. To receive a free written notice of a security breach you should notify us via email at thefunded.spam -at- gmail.com.

International Visitors

The FII Site is hosted in the United States and is intended solely for visitors located within the United States. If you nonetheless choose to use the FII Site from the European Union or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from United States law, then please note that you are transferring your personal data outside of those regions to the United States which does not have the same data protection laws as the European Union and other regions, and by providing your personal data consent to: (i) the use of your personal data for the uses identified above in accordance with the Privacy Notice; and (ii) the transfer of your personal data to the United States as indicated above.

In the Event of Merger, Sale or Bankruptcy

In the event that FII should ever be acquired by or merged with a third-party entity, we reserve the right, in any of these circumstances, to transfer or assign the information that we have collected from Users as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control. In the event of FII’s bankruptcy, insolvency, or assignment for the benefit of creditors, we may not be able to control how information that we have collected from Users is transferred or used.

Changes and Updates to this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice may be revised periodically without further notice to you and this will be reflected by a “last modified” date below. Please revisit this page to stay aware of any changes. In general, we only use your personal information in the manner described in the Privacy Notice in effect when we received that personal information. Your continued use of the FII Site constitutes your agreement to this Privacy Notice and any future revisions.

Effective Date, Date Last Modified

This Privacy Notice is effective as of January 20, 2010.

FII Contact Information

Please contact FII with any questions or comments about this Privacy Notice, your personal information, or our third-party disclosure practices at thefunded.spam -at- gmail.com. We will endeavor to respond to your inquiry within a reasonable amount of time.

The Founder Institute is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 50 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 1,550 companies in 6 years. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and build sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.